Todos os capítulos de My Sister's Fiance: Capítulo 21 - Capítulo 30

Night came down slowly over Lake Oswego like someone politely turning off the lights.The rain that had clung to the glass since afternoon had finally stopped. The streets were still black and damp, the sidewalks reflecting the last of the light, and the sky above the pines had cleared clean—dark blue, slick, with one thin streak of pink still clinging to the horizon. The houses in the neighborhood glowed warm behind their big windows. Garden lights had come on. A few families had come out after dinner for a slow walk, leading expensive dogs on leashes that probably cost more than a semester at a normal college.Max and Issa, of course, immediately acted like the whole neighborhood had been built for them.Max had on a gray sweater under his favorite little Arsenal jacket, the zipper halfway down because he insisted “people need to see the crest.” His black hair was already a mess again, his cheeks pink with fresh color, his blue eyes far too bright for a child who should’ve been exha

I let Ethan keep talking for another two minutes after the word done left his mouth, just so I’d have a legally defensible reason not to look at Zach.The second the meeting broke up, Claire pulled Tania and Arun toward the badge-access area to deal with temp cards, workstation permissions, and all the boring little things that made a company look functional. I followed behind them, holding coffee that had gone cold and a mood that wasn’t much warmer.This twenty-first floor had a side corridor leading to the new work block. Tall glass on one side. A row of cubicles on the other. Dark gray carpet. Clean white lighting. Everything looked like it had been designed by people who thought personality was a security violation.Claire stopped in front of the area and gestured with her tablet. “This section is being reassigned for your team. Six stations, one enclosed room for sensitive reviews, dedicated network lane, restricted printer access.”I just stood at the entrance, staring at the l

I stared at the little card for a few seconds too long.Then I let out a soft huff, set it down on the island, and forced my body to move.I transferred the kunafa to a white serving plate. Its edges were golden, the pistachios glinting, the syrup still clinging sweetly to the bottom of the box. It would’ve been a waste to throw it out. I could hate Zachary De Sanctis with religious dedication and still not be the kind of criminal who threw away good Levantine pastry just because it came from the most infuriating man who had ever escaped my fists.The card was a different matter.I opened the drawer by the fridge, took out the kitchen shears, and started cutting the note into thin little strips. One neat sentence. Snip. Edge. Snip. The Z at the bottom. Snip again until all that was left were black scraps scattered over the white marble.“Better,” I muttered. “That feels healthier.”I threw the pieces into the trash, pressing them down with my fingers until they disappeared among veget

At nine in the morning, Northlake’s twenty-first floor looked like a hive full of people paid very well to panic calmly.The work block they’d given us yesterday, which had still been too clean, was now crowded with open laptops, water bottles, charging cables, sticky notes, and the faces of my team, who had not yet fully forgiven me for dragging them into on-site work. The six charcoal cubicles still looked expensive, but now the whole we are a very proper real estate company aura had been overtaken by something closer to Arabella Gómez’s IT team is currently taking your house apart from the inside.Tania sat at the end of the aisle with a headset on, iPad in hand, her face cold and efficient. Arun had already claimed the small glass room with two monitors and the expression of a developer staring at access logs like they were love letters written by a criminal. Four other analysts filled the core workstations. The rest had spread out to extra desks Northlake had apparently conjured o

“Okay.” I finally found my voice. “We’re going home.”Max turned to me like I’d just announced we were moving to a planet with no toys. “What? No.”Issa was even worse. She crossed her little arms over her chest, one foot stepping forward slightly in that signature boss stance of hers. “We just got here.”“And now you’re about to have just gotten home,” I shot back.“Mommy,” Max said, frowning, deeply offended, “I’m not done working yet.”“They usually like playing at the office, Boss. At our office too, right?” From behind one of the cubicles, one of my analysts, Mia, lifted her head from her laptop.Yes, at our office. My office. The space I built myself. Safe ground. A place that did not include Zachary De Sanctis standing five steps behind my children.“This is someone else’s office,” I said quietly, still looking at the twins. “Not a house. Not a daycare. And definitely not a playground.”“No need.”That voice came from behind me, too low.I went rigid from the back of my neck to